LONDON, ON — Western Fair Raceway is readying its red carpet, as the glamour girls of the Ontario Sires Stakes program prepare to make the first start of their sophomore season this Friday, May 23.

Two $40,000 Gold Eliminations will go postward on Friday for the talented three-year-old pacing fillies, and trainer Casie Coleman will harness the early favourites in both Race 1 and 2.

“They both drew real well,” says Coleman of Chancey Lady and A Fiesty Affair. “They are both real good. They are very calm for fillies, they are calm in the paddock, and they ship good. They are a nice duo to have.”

Last season’s division champion, Chancey Lady will start from Post 4 in the first elimination. The Camluck miss made her sophomore debut in an overnight event at Mohawk Racetrack on May 9 and delivered a fourth-place finish in the 1:52.4 mile, pacing home in a snappy :26.2. At two, Chancey Lady posted a record of seven wins and one second in 10 starts and banked $350,340 for owner Niele Jiwan of Burnaby, BC.

“I turned her out for six or seven weeks and then brought her back in,” says Coleman of her star pupil. “She didn’t grow a whole lot. I wish she had grown more, but she filled out a lot, and she trained back like a million bucks.”

A Fiesty Affair is a new addition to the young trainer’s barn, but so far Coleman has been impressed with the daughter of Camluck and So Fiesty and will send her out from Post 3 in the second $40,000 elimination.

“She’s a real nice filly. She’s good gaited and fast,” says the trainer. “She has speed. In her first start back she paced in 1:51.2.”

Bred and owned by Robert Hamather of Exeter, A Fiesty Affair made her sophomore debut in a non-winners of three contest at Woodbine Racetrack on April 24. She finished second in the 1:51 mile and earned herself a berth in the Gold Series.

As a two-year-old A Fiesty Affair was a Grassroots standout, winning her Semifinal and finishing third in the Final. In 14 races the filly posted a record of seven wins and two thirds for earnings of $111,905.

The top three finishers from last season’s two-year-old pacing filly Grassroots Final will make the leap to the Gold Series on Friday. Freshman champion Onyx Killean will start from Post 3 in the first elimination, and runner-up St Lads Seraph will start from Post 5 in the second race, to the right of A Fiesty Affair. Also taking a stab at the Gold Series are Grassroots Semifinalists Stylish Fit, Shipps Bikini and Torrid Pace. Stylish Fit gets Post 5 in Race 1, while Shipps Bikini and Torrid Pace will start from Posts 1 and 6 in Race 2.

Trainer Scott McNiven is hoping home field advantage works in Stylish Fit’s favour, as the Fit For Life daughter makes her third start of the season at the London oval. A 1:59.1 winner in her April 25 debut at Western Fair, the filly made a miscue on May 2 and finished eighth, but she bounced back with a second-place showing at Hiawatha Horse Park on May 15.

“She’s come back a little bit smarter, but she’s still tricky to drive,” explains McNiven. “That’s what happened in her second start. You can’t jam her up too much.”

The Putnam resident conditions the homebred filly for his wife Kimberley McNiven of Putnam, and Bradley McNiven and Twin B Stables of Embro, and he admits that there are faster fillies in the race, but is hoping Stylish Fit’s familiarity with Western Fair’s quirks will stand her in good stead.

“Casie Coleman’s filly is a great filly, but it’s still a horse race,” notes McNiven. “Some horses have a lot of trouble with that first turn. Years ago, I was stabled at London when they still had stabling right there, and they used to say if you got one broke there, you could go anywhere. If you could get around London, you could get around anywhere.”

Stylish Fit has already proven that she can get around London, now McNiven hopes she can do it fast enough to land in the top four on Friday. The first four finishers from each elimination will earn a return ticket to Western Fair for the $120,000 Gold Final on Friday, May 30.

The Gold Eliminations are slated as Races 1 and 2 on Western Fair Raceway’s Friday evening program, which also features a pair of eliminations for the lucrative Molson Pace in Races 6 and 7. Post time for what should be a lightning fast evening of racing is 7:35 pm.

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